Abstract
This study adopted a qualitative case-study approach to examine the attitudes, experiences, and perceptions of undergraduate students who were enrolled in an online, collaborative learning course at a Ghanaian private university. Data sources included surveys, student and instructor journal entries, email records, individual interviews, and Web-server logs. The study found that the students did not respond favorably to online constructivist teaching approaches such as asynchronous discussions and ill-structured project-based learning activities, and perceived collaborative online learning within their context as a complex, more demanding and time-consuming experience.
Highlights
With the current advances in Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) by way of improved computer power, faster data transfer rates, and attendant lowering of costs, coupled with the fact that the effective integration of these technologies into educational curricula has been demonstrated to have positive effects on student learning (Harvey, 2003; Kiluk, 1994; Salpeter, 1998), technology-enabled instruction, especially online learning, has emerged as the most feasible and economically sound means of expanding access to quality higher education
Online learning is still being touted as the only and best possible solution to the problem of access to quality higher education in Sub-Saharan Africa, especially as it has been demonstrated within other settings that learners who have participated in online learning, mostly report that they perceive this mode of learning as being convenient and flexible (Leasure, Davis & Thievon, 2000), offering a greater access to learning resources (Sener & Stover, 2000), increasing student motivation and self-esteem (Kearsley, 1996), enhancing learner participation and interactivity (Fredericksen, Pickett, Shea, Pelz, & Swan, 2000; Maeroff, 2004), and more significantly, improving the quality of learning (Fjermestad, Hiltz, & Zhang, 2005)
As it is known that the total commitment and participation of learners is crucial for successful learning outcomes of collaborative online learning courses (Hiltz & Shea, 2005; Petrova & Sinclair, 2005), if Ghanaian educators hope to successfully implement collaborative online learning within higher education institutions, they must, in addition to considering the broader contextual and environmental factors that influence this mode of learning, make special efforts to get the support and acceptance from the students (Arbaugh & Benbunan-Fich, 2005; Khan, 2005). This starts with empirical studies aimed at understanding the perceptions such students hold about online learning environments within their context (Hara & Kling, 2003; Petrova & Sinclair, 2005; Shneiderman, 1992), and the various contextual factors that influence those perceptions. It is in line with this argument that this study investigated Ghanaian university students' perceptions of collaborative online learning by eliciting their opinions, and studying their
Summary
With the current advances in Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) by way of improved computer power, faster data transfer rates, and attendant lowering of costs, coupled with the fact that the effective integration of these technologies into educational curricula has been demonstrated to have positive effects on student learning (Harvey, 2003; Kiluk, 1994; Salpeter, 1998), technology-enabled instruction, especially online learning, has emerged as the most feasible and economically sound means of expanding access to quality higher education. Brain drain, and dwindling financial resources, whilst under increasing pressure to cater for larger student populations (Saint, 1999) Despite these constraints, online learning is still being touted as the only and best possible solution to the problem of access to quality higher education in Sub-Saharan Africa, especially as it has been demonstrated within other settings (notably the developed world) that learners who have participated in online learning, mostly report that they perceive this mode of learning as being convenient and flexible (Leasure, Davis & Thievon, 2000), offering a greater access to learning resources (Sener & Stover, 2000), increasing student motivation and self-esteem (Kearsley, 1996), enhancing learner participation and interactivity (Fredericksen, Pickett, Shea, Pelz, & Swan, 2000; Maeroff, 2004), and more significantly, improving the quality of learning (Fjermestad, Hiltz, & Zhang, 2005)
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